Jason Rullo (Symphony X)
December 2007
When and where were you born?
I was born in Hackensack, New Jersey in 1972 on July 17th.
Can you tell me about your childhood? Were you a good or a bad kid?
I was told that I was a good kid. I think that's because I got away with a lot. (Laughs) My parents passed away when I was 11 but other than that I have a big family and we get along really well. Actually right now I'm on my way to Massachusetts to visit a lot of my family.
What was your dream as a kid?
Actually, I wanted to be this. I wanted to be a professional drummer who is able to see the world through playing music and so I'm lucky enough doing that right now. I consider myself extremely lucky.
So you never wanted to be a fireman or something like that?
Actually when I was really young, it's very funny, I wanted to be a truck driver as I loved the big trucks. (Laughs) And then I wanted to be a baseball player and then after that I suddenly realised that I wanted to be a drummer.
What kind of schools you took?
I just graduated in High School and then I went to a music speciality school that you may have heard of called Musicians Collective in New York City and I took about one year of college also before that.
Were you a good student?
Yeah, I was actually. Like any kids I got into trouble sometimes but I got away with most of the stuff I did so I didn't get very much into trouble. (Laughs)
What was the first time you picked up an instrument?
Well, I took some piano lessons and some guitar lessons probably when I was like 8-9 years old. I started actually playing the drums when I was 11.
How many instruments can you play?
I only play the drums well. I can only mess around with the other things a little bit.
And how about singing?
I come from a family of four singers so I can sing a little bit. It's just something I haven't really practised a lot. Sometimes we're messing around with the band and we sing barbershop and I'm singing with them. I can hold the note but I'm no Russell Allen. (Laughs)
What were your main influences along the way as far as drummers and bands?
The first guy who was a huge influence to me was Alex Van Halen. Their Fair Warning and 1984 albums were kind of the first ones that blew me away. Also around that age Slayer and their Reign in Blood album with the double bass and stuff. Of course that got me going with the double bass drums. After that it was Neil Peart from Rush. And of course as most kids I was also into bands like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden and all that kind of stuff. Then when I got a little older around the end of high school I started discovering fusion music, artists like Billy Cobham, The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Now my favourite drummers are probably Dennis Chambers, Vinnie Colaiuta and guys like that who can play many different styles and who have great technique but still have a sense to play for the music. Simon Phillips is another one of my big influences.
Can you recall the first song you ever learned to play on drums?
Yeah, it was Unchained by Van Halen. That was when I was 11 years old. That was the first thing I wanted to be able to play. That's what I brought with me to my first drum lesson. I said, "I wanna be able to do this." Of course it took me a little while to be able to play it. I remember seeing that video and thinking, "I have to be able to do that."
Do you remember the first vinyl you ever bought?
I think it was Slayer's Reign in Blood. My parents had good taste in music so I discovered Led Zeppelin and of course I'm a big John Bonham fan who is another huge influence. My mom had Led Zeppelin albums so I was able to discover them through my parents' record collection. But the first one I ever bought was Reign in Blood.
And what's the last CD you bought?
It was Jing Chi by Vinnie Colaiuta, Robben Ford and Jimmy Haslip. It's a fusion CD.
Do you purchase music regularly?
Yeah, I try. I have a hard time finding music I like now. I'm trying to find obscure stuff that maybe has good musicians on it or stuff that somebody recommended to me. I'm always looking for new stuff but I have a hard time finding the right stuff.
What would be your three all time favourite albums?
Hemispheres by Rush. Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin and Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.
And what would be your favourite Symphony X album?
I'd have to say the new one, Paradise Lost. Before that it was V.
What is the song that you enjoy the most playing live?
That's a tough one. There's a couple but I guess overall it would probably be The Odyssey because it's dynamic, we go through a lot of different things in there and it's an emotional song. It's almost like a few songs put into one. We get to play different things within just one piece of music and the crowd really seems to love it.
And are there any Symphony X songs that you are not really satisfied with anymore?
I'm sure if I went back and listened to some of the old stuff I could come up with something. Our first three records were pretty rushed so all of us kinda look back and think that we could have done this better and we could have done that better. But the main thing at that time was that we were able to make another CD so we kinda just have to be thankful that each album did well enough so we could keep making another one. I think V was the first one that we actually said, "We're gonna take enough time, the time we really need to finish this CD." And even that ended up being a little bit rushed in the end. Paradise Lost is actually the first CD that we didn't rush. There was a lot of pressure on us to put out a good album and we did everything we could and that's the best product that we could have made to this point. The first CD we did as Symphony X was completely different. I did all my tracks in one night so if I look at that CD I could pick a lot of things that I think I could have done better.
Do you remember your first live experience as a fan?
Yeah, I was taken to see a jazz concert when I was around 16. It was Spyro Gyra and Richie Morales was playing drums at the time. I just remember being so impressed with his technique and his total control of his instrument. I thought that I needed to get to that level of precision. Then I started to go to concerts with my friends and I believe Rush was the first one that I actually bought a ticket to go and see. Of course that was just a mindblowing experience to see how those three guys could make such incredible music and such a full sound with only three guys up there.
Do you still go to many concerts in your area?
It depends. Not to too many because when you're touring so much and you're playing concerts every night your ears are ringing and I like the quiet time in between the shows. (Laughs) But I go if there's somebody I really want to see, like we went with the guys to see Heaven and Hell and Megadeth. It's hard to even be in town a lot of times for the shows I wanna see.
Did you enjoy the Heaven and Hell show?
It was great. It was great to see Ronnie James Dio and Iommi and all those guys together again making that great music. That's my favourite Black Sabbath. Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules are two of the greatest albums ever. It was great to see them playing that music again.
Is there any band that you'd give a lot of money for seeing?
There's one band that I was sad that I missed because of my age was Led Zeppelin. If you could put Bonham back to life and those guys back together that would be the ultimate concert.
Can you also recall your first ever live gig as a professional musician?
I have done a lot of shows before Symphony X with other bands and many of them very fusion kind of bands but it was more like a local thing. For me the first really intense experience was with Symphony X when we did our first gig and that was in Japan in 1998. We were all pretty nervous and that was really quite an experience to go and play that show. I'll never forget that one. The place was packed and the kids just started jumping up and down from the first note. It was really a great experience, I'll never forget that.
Was there any show that you could pick as the best one of your career?
Oh boy, that's a really hard one. All the festivals are great. There are so many people and stuff. I remember the first festival we ever did and that was in Spain. We did the Rock Machina and that was the first time we really had a crowd that big in front of us. 10,000 people in front of us for the first time. To me that might have been the greatest show we've ever had just for that reason. It was such a different experience than the small club shows.
And what could be the worst one?
I don't know. I'm trying to blackout the bad ones. (Laughs) Sometimes you have equipment problems or things like that but you just try and play your best. Honestly I couldn't even pick one out. Let's see if anything really jumps to my mind. Not really... Okay, actually here's one. We were somewhere in the Czech Republic or on the border of Germany somewhere, we were in this tiny little club in the middle of nowhere and the show wasn't promoted and there were 30 people showed up. And the people that showed up even said, "What are you guys doing here? Nobody comes here. This is an area where black metal is popular and people kill each other from other bands." We were just like, "OMG, I don't know what we're doing here either." (Laughs) That was kind of a weird show so that one might have been the worst.
What's the strangest thing that ever happened to you on stage?
There's been a lot of weird things. Recently we had a pipe fall from the ceiling just on this last tour. I think it was in Mexico City and a big piece of metal fell right from the ceiling and it just missed one of the guys. If it had hit somebody it could have killed him.
You've been playing together on tour with a lot of band over the years. What was the best band to play together with?
To be able to play at a festival with Heaven and Hell and we were able to do that in Gods of Metal and also in Sweden. But at Gods of Metal we were on the same stage with them. We warmed up the stage for Black Sabbath was pretty much the highlight for me.
Do you prefer playing in front of large or smaller audiences?
I think with bigger gigs it's easier somehow because at small gigs you have everybody kinda right in your face. It's almost like there's more pressure. It's weird. The big crowd almost becomes surreal and it's easier somehow, especially when the crowd is into it. There's so much energy that the crowd gives back. So I prefer the bigger gigs really.
What was the smallest and the largest crowd you ever played in front of?
I think the largest was one of the festivals where we had about 15,000 people. The smallest one... we had a gig in Albuquerque in New Mexico one time and nobody knew about it and three people came to the show. (Laughs)
Did you play the full set?
Yeah, we played the full set. We gave the full energy that we always give to every show so those three people got entertainment for their money at least.
What's the first thing you do after getting offstage?
I usually take a shower and drink a lot of water. (Laughs) And I usually look for food as I'm usually starving after we play.
If you were putting together an all star musician line-up who would you pick?
Oh boy, that's interesting. I'd probably have Allan Holdsworth on guitar, Jeff Berlin on bass, Jens Johansson on keyboard and I think that'd be it. No singer. I think I'd have a fusion band with those guys. (Laughs)
Do you care about what the media says about your work?
Yeah, but it's not something that drives me crazy either way. Of course I care about it. If I read an article I wanna know a little bit about the person who writes the article before I read it. So if it's somebody who I think is a person who's coming from an educated standpoint then I'll care. If it's some kid who had an opinion about everything but doesn1t even play an instrument and likes to cut people down and has a little Internet fanzine then I'm not gonna care. But basically the more respectable the journalist is the more attention I pay to it.
What is the best and the worst thing about being a musician?
The best thing I think is the time on stage and actually just being able to share your own music with people. It's really such a privilege and I think that's the best part about it. The second best part is to being able to see the world and also you learn so much about people from the way they react to your music. From country to country it's different and I think it actually says something about the country and about the culture a little bit and it's something that in the beginning I didn't expect and that's really cool. The worst part is all the travelling and missing your family. That's the hardest part.
Speaking of families, do you have a kid?
Yes, I have a nine week old son. He's very tiny. It's an unbelievable thing, it's kind of surreal.
What would be your day job if you weren't a musician?
I'd probably be a chef. I worked in restaurants as a kid a lot and paying the bills before the band could start to pay some of the bills. That's something I've always done and I love eating and I love cooking and I have an Italian side of my family that cooks quite a bit and I kinda enjoy that as well.
So what's your favourite food? Pasta?
Yeah, probably some kind of pasta. (Laughs) Pasta with pasta.
Do you have any hobbies besides playing music?
I like to mountainbike quite a bit and I just love being outside. I like to hike. They called me Nature Boy in the band. Anything I can do in nature. I love the water, I love to go boating and stuff like that. Camping.
Are you doing a lot of interview for Symphony X?
Recently I've been doing more. Usually Mike and Russ would do a lot of them but recently we had so much press that everybody in the band started doing them.
And how do you feel about that?
I feel good. I think it's good that everybody in the band do interviews so the reader can get a perspective from everybody in the band. That's a good thing.